View full sizeThomas Ondrey, The Plain DealerOhio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine raises a broom Nov. 2, 2010, the night of a triumphant GOP sweep statewide. Despite the gains, it's no secret Gov. John Kasich is interested in replacing DeWine with a party chief of his choosing.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A year after their statewide triumph, Ohio Republicans find themselves on the threshold of a defining moment.

Asked if Kasich agreed with the call, a spokesman sidestepped the question.

"We have far bigger fish to fry than this," said Rob Nichols.

Nichols was referring, in part, to Issue 2. A "yes" vote would uphold Senate Bill 5, the Republican-backed push to restrict the collective-bargaining power of public employees and set requirements on how much those workers pay toward their health care and pensions.

GOP activists acutely aware of the Kasich-DeWine conflict already sense supporters of each man are pointing fingers at the other in anticipation of failure. And many fear the discord will seep into next year, when the party ideally would be unifying behind a presidential candidate.

"At the moment I think they're both doing a great job," Suhadolnik added. "If the governor felt the need to make a change, this would not be the right time because Chairman DeWine needs to get ready for the presidential campaign, and Kasich has plenty to do as governor. It would definitely be much easier if everyone could just get along."

View full sizeMarvin Fong, The Plain DealerA spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, shown at his State of State address in March, said the governor "has far bigger fish to fry" when asked about the DeWine feud.

Kasich's reasons for preferring a handpicked chairman aren't hard to imagine. As a high-profile governor, he holds an office that invites speculation about his future on the national stage. With an unquestioned ally in power, Kasich would have more influence over how state party funds are spent and would be able to tailor the party's agenda to suit his own aspirations.

But DeWine remains popular with the Central Committee, which in January unanimously re-elected him to a second two-year term -- a reward, no doubt, for the party winning every statewide election on his watch last year. So, increasingly, there is chatter that Kasich loyalists are recruiting candidates to run for committee seats next March in an effort to orchestrate a coup.

One election at a time, DeWine said last week when asked about those whispers.

"We are less than one week out from Election Day," he said in an emailed statement. "If lobbyists and political consultants around the governor are dedicated to lining up candidates to defeat members of our State Central Committee in March, that is their prerogative.

"If they had the best interest of Gov. Kasich and our state in mind, their focus would instead be where mine is -- winning our state issues and local elections on Nov. 8."

Governors not always happy with party leadership

Governor-chairman battles are not entirely new to Columbus.

"My sense is that every governor would like to choose the state party chairman," said Mary Anne Sharkey, a political strategist and former Plain Dealer editorial page editor who worked in former Gov. Bob Taft's administration. "But it doesn't always work out that way."

Suhadolnik and Sharkey recalled then-Gov. George Voinovich's push back on ChairmanBob Bennett in 1994. Republicans, as they did last year under DeWine, had made huge statewide gains under Bennett's leadership. But that didn't stop Voinovich from calling for party reforms.

Many at the time suspected that top Voinovich aides had Summit County GOP Chairman Alex Arshinkoff, fresh off running the governor's re-election campaign, waiting in the wings.

But nothing came of the public posturing and backroom maneuvering. Bennett stepped down on his own terms 14 years later and handed the reins to DeWine in a planned succession.

Republican insiders believe the makings of the Kasich-DeWine feud go back a few years before that, to 2006. Democrats that year won all but one nonjudicial statewide office, creating a Republican power vacuum. Into the void stepped then-Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted.

Husted's youth and ambition made him an appealing prospect for the 2010 gubernatorial race. It didn't hurt that DeWine, his top House deputy, was climbing the party leadership ladder.

Batchelder, today the House speaker, has become a solid ally of Kasich's.

Strained relationship comes to the surface

Talk to enough Republicans familiar with the history and a popular theory emerges. DeWine, these observers say, looked past 2010, dreaming of a Husted 2014 ticket made possible by Kasich's failure. Rightly or wrongly, the implication is that DeWine's work as party chairman reflected that desired outcome. Critics love to nitpick his financial and tactical decisions.

Others argue that DeWine was guilty of nothing more than doing his job. Polls down the stretch showed a close race between Kasich and incumbent Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. By this logic, it made sense for DeWine to have a contingency plan in the event of a Kasich loss.

"It's 100 percent fiction," Husted said last week when asked if Kasich spoiled his plans.

"I helped raise money for John Kasich's race. I advocated publicly at every stop I made about how important it was to elect him. I want John Kasich to have the most successful eight years as governor as he can possibly have. Some people would like to make it so you can't be for both John Kasich and Kevin DeWine. I'm for both."

Via email, DeWine said the accusation that he was prematurely plotting Husted's rise was "baseless and absurd." DeWine also noted that he "took the unprecedented step of convening the State Central Committee" to formally endorse Kasich's candidacy in September 2009.

Regardless of how the rift formed, even the thrill of a GOP sweep couldn't bring the two together. One report earlier in the year told of a post-election meeting in which Kasich asked DeWine to step aside. Since then, neither has seemed eager to lock arms in party unity.

Romney, a leading Republican contender for president, came to the Cincinnati area in what state party officials billed as a visit to rally support for Issue 2 and other ballot initiatives. When reporters there asked the former Massachusetts governor for his thoughts on the collective-bargaining law, Romney refused to offer any. A day later, in Virginia, he endorsed the law.

A DeWine spokesman has been adamant that the claims are false. By its count, the Ohio GOP has hired 10 full-time employees, made more than 1 million telephone calls, knocked on more than 90,000 doors and printed 30,000 palm cards -- all in support of Issue 2.

Even so, the Romney story succeeded in ginning up outrage on Kasich's behalf. Hunting Valley businessman Jon Lindseth, who with his wife donated more than $33,000 to Kasich's gubernatorial campaign, sent an Oct. 27 email to DeWine calling for his ouster.

"You crossed the line," Lindseth wrote.

Reached at home last week, Lindseth declined to elaborate.

"I'm not talking to reporters," he said before hanging up the telephone.

Speculation is that Kasich would like Columbus lobbyist Doug Preisse, head of the Franklin County Republican Party and a member of the governor's inner circle, to replace DeWine.

Preisse would not commit publicly when asked last week.

"You can only have one state party chairman at a time," Preisse said. "And we have one."

Whatever happens, party faithful hope some semblance of harmony is restored soon.